As swine flu closes schools, parents scramble to find help

Chandler parents in a pickle after their children's schools were closed suddenly Thursday because of confirmed swine flu cases are scrambling to find alternative supervision for their kids.

Two families quickly arranged an impromptu child swapping system in which they are trading off caring for each other's first graders at Tarwater Elementary School.

"My wife and I just talked for a few minutes and came up with the idea," said Chad Eby, whose 6-year-old son, James, spent Friday at his friend's house. "We knew they'd be in the same situation."

On Monday, it will be Chad's turn to watch the boys while working from home. Chad works in land acquisition for a home builder. On Tuesday, it's back to the house of the other child, whose mother has a home office from which she sells medical products. On Wednesday, Chad's wife, Amy, a nurse practitioner, has the day off work and will watch the boys. And on Thursday, Chad's retired in-laws will be on duty. On Friday, the boys will be allowed to return to school.

But not all parents had figured out a plan as of Friday.

Barrett Marsen and his ex-wife are still trying to figure out who will watch their 9-year-old daughter, Hannah, next week. Marsen, the public information officer for the Arizona Department of Corrections, said he has work meetings Monday that he can't miss and is hoping his ex-wife can take the day off work. On Tuesday, he plans to work from home so his ex-wife can attend meetings at her work in an insurance office.

"I'm glad the school (Tarwater) closed rather than take chances, but now I have to scramble to figure out what we're going to do," he said.

Parents at Hartford Sylvia Elementary School are in a similar position since the Maricopa County health Department ordered the school closed on Thursday.

Both schools were closed after 6th-grade girls contracted a case of swine flu that was confirmed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Neither of the girls had a travel history to Mexico, where the outbreak began, state and county health officials said Friday. The other two school age children in the county also have not traveled recently to Mexico.

"It's already bouncing around in the community," said Dr. Bob England, director of the Maricopa County Department of Public Health.

England said Friday that the county expects "a great many more" confirmed cases of the virus, which is behaving like a typical flu virus despite the more virulent cases of illness in Mexico. There were 50 suspected cases in the state as of Friday.

It's unclear whether the county will order more schools closed if new cases are diagnosed in students, but health officials may back off that strategy as more information becomes available, said Will Humble, acting director of the Arizona Department of Health Services.

"The biggest one that really impacts people's lives is school dismissal," Humble said, adding he knows how disruptive it is to families when children can't go to school and need to arrange other daycare.